The bedrock of the warrior ethos is that Americans never leave behind a fallen comrade, said Anthony Tata, undersecretary of war for personnel and readiness.
Tata spoke today in Arlington, Virginia, to members of families who lost loved ones during the Vietnam War. The event was sponsored by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
"The Vietnam War may have ceased more than half a century ago, but I know that for all of you, it's never really ended, and you have spent decades carrying your silent vigil, a silent vigil for your unaccounted-[for] fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, family and friends, and waiting for answers. Know that this War Department is focused on helping you find them," Tata said.
The undersecretary applauded the work that teams are doing in the field around the world searching for remains, as well as the scientists who make the identifications in the laboratories at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii, and Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
The DPAA mission is personal, Tata said, noting his own combat service and remembering his comrades who never made it home alive.
Kelly K. McKeague, director of DPAA, said his agency has been working to recover remains from the Vietnam War since 1985 and that DPAA-trained Vietnamese recovery teams have located the remains of many missing Americans.
Communicating and connecting is just as important as it is with accounting for your loved ones, McKeague said.
"This is that sacred obligation, that moral imperative that we have told you for years, that we live it, we don't just talk it. We live it simply because we know your loved ones made the supreme sacrifice, you deserve those long-sought answers, and that's why we're here," he said.
While DPAA has been searching for service members from all wars dating to World War II, the agency has prioritized finding the missing from the Vietnam War since firsthand witnesses in several nations where operations took place are aging and dying, McKeague said.
Justin O'Connell is the grandson of Marine Corps Maj. Francis Edward Visconti, who died Nov. 22, 1965, when his UH-34D helicopter crashed during a night flight in a storm in South Vietnam. He brought a photo of his grandfather and a shadow box full of his medals and other mementos. Visconti and three others on that flight are still missing.
Susan Lilly Harvey's brother, Army 1st Lt. Lawrence Lilly, went missing in Southeast Asia when his Cobra helicopter went down. She said she's been coming to these gatherings every year for 40 years.
Raymond L. Echevarria Jr.'s father, Army Sgt. Maj. Raymond L. Echevarria Sr., and two other soldiers went missing in Laos following a firefight with the Viet Cong. An interpreter escaped to relay what happened.
Last year, 231 missing service members were accounted for, including eight from the Vietnam War, with the remainder from World War II and the Korean War. Most of the recovery sites are in Europe and Southeast Asia. There are currently 1,565 missing U.S. personnel from the Vietnam War.